Hà Nội's Chuông Vàng Theatre is about to host something a bit special: a six-day festival where disabled and non-disabled artists share the stage on equal terms. Running October 20-25, the Every Body in Motion festival is organised by EUNIC Vietnam, the network of European Union cultural institutes, and features performers from Việt Nam, Austria, Italy, Germany, South Korea and the UK.
The programme mixes classics with new work. There's a staging of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Beverly Blankenship in collaboration with the Hà Nội Academy of Theatre and Cinema, where students perform alongside disabled actors cast as fairies and animals — with plenty of movement scenes built around them rather than despite them. Blankenship's take is that the performers' differences aren't hidden but become part of how the story gets told. Maurice Maeterlinck's The Blind is also on the bill, alongside Vietnamese premieres including Lắng Nghe Điểm Chạm and Bến Tằm, a piece called Wonders, and a musical exploration of identity and borders from Korean artist Wonhee Shin.
A pantomime by hearing-impaired performers from Cuội Theatre lands on October 23, and one of the bigger draws is likely the inclusive singing workshop led by Italian mezzo-soprano Valentina Volpe Andreazza and pianist Francesco Morettini. Participants rehearse songs bridging Italian and Vietnamese musical traditions, then get to perform with Andreazza at Chuông Vàng Theatre on October 24. She has long worked with people living with disabilities, including Alzheimer's and paralysis, and her framing is simple: music connects where boundaries divide.
Beyond the performances, the festival packs in film screenings, panel discussions and workshops, with Goethe-Institut Hanoi and British Council Vietnam coordinating under art director Nguyễn Hoàng Điệp.
For travellers, this is a nice excuse to time a Hà Nội autumn trip with something off the usual temple-and-street-food circuit. Performances are ticketed events in proper theatres, so you'd want to check schedules at Chuông Vàng Theatre and the Goethe-Institut's pages closer to the dates. Even if you miss this edition, it signals a growing inclusive arts scene in the city worth seeking out year-round.
